Jesús Luzardo done in by disastrous third inning in Phillies’ 9-6 loss to the Reds
All six batters Luzardo faced in the third inning reached base for the shortest outing of the season for the Phillies starter.
About a month ago, Jesús Luzardo believed he was tipping his pitches in back-to-back dreadful starts against the Brewers and Blue Jays. As he scrambled to remedy the problem, he worked with the Phillies coaching staff on tweaking his delivery out of the stretch.
One of the main adjustments was a change to Luzardo’s hand placement. And in his four starts after, it looked like it was working.
But making a midseason modification like that isn’t always straightforward for a pitcher. And Luzardo hit a major snag in the Phillies’ 9-6 Independence Day loss to Cincinnati.
In his shortest outing of the season, Luzardo struggled to command his breaking balls, especially out of the stretch. All six batters Luzardo faced in the third inning reached base until he was lifted for Joe Ross. Five of them ended up scoring.
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“There’s no adjustment period,” Luzardo said. “You got to figure it out. But I think out of the stretch, maybe the change [to my hands] caused a little change, as opposed to my windup being the same that it’s always been. But there’s no excuse for it.”
He retired the side in order in the first inning, but as soon as Spencer Steer drew a walk in the second, things began to snowball.
A single and another walk loaded the bases for Cincinnati. Luzardo nearly got out of the jam unscathed when he induced a ground ball back to the mound and got the force out at home. But catcher J.T. Realmuto’s throw to first for the double play deflected off Rece Hinds’ helmet and ended up in right field, allowing a run to score.
A strikeout ended the inning, but the problems began again in the third after a leadoff bunt single from TJ Friedl.
Since Luzardo couldn’t command his secondary pitches, he was forced to come in the zone with his fastball. The Reds made him pay: Five of the six hits he allowed were off fastballs.
“He was really good in first inning, then in the second, he had that long inning, and they were laying off the slider a little bit, and his changeups,” said manager Rob Thomson. “He just lost command.”
Another walk and four straight hits — including a double from former Phillie Austin Hays that Nick Castellanos had to chase down in right field — scored four more runs before the Phillies could record an out. It completely erased the early lead they had built in the first with Castellanos’ two-run homer.
“I still feel strong and healthy, which is a positive,” Luzardo said. “But I need to find ways to limit deep counts, and obviously the pitch count. Just try to get in and out of innings as fast as possible.”
Ross took over, and didn’t fare much better. In 2⅔ innings, he allowed three earned runs over five hits and one walk.
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The Phillies offense chipped away, chasing Reds starter Andrew Abbott from the game in the fourth inning. But the deficit was too big to overcome.
Castellanos got his third RBI of the game after Kyle Schwarber scored on his ground ball to shortstop in the third. Schwarber later hit a double off the left field wall to score two runs in the sixth.
They had missed opportunities, too. With runners on the corners in the fourth, Schwarber tried to check his swing and sent a ground ball to Reds reliever Sam Moll. He made the throw to Elly De La Cruz at second, who threw home to catch Edmundo Sosa diving in for an inning-ending double play. Thomson attempted to challenge the call at the plate, but the umpires denied the request as too much time had passed.
“I felt like as the game kept going, that we were putting ourselves in those situations to have success, and it just didn’t work out,” Schwarber said. “But I need to personally be better in that spot. I can’t be a first-pitch, check swing deal that’s going to result in two outs.”
The Phillies threatened in the eighth. With two runners on, Schwarber smoked a line drive 113.7 mph off the bat. It happened to be straight at Reds right fielder Will Benson, who made the catch. Bryce Harper then drew a walk to load the bases for the second time, but Alec Bohm struck out looking to strand all three runners.
The Phillies outhit the Reds, 14-11, but Cincinnati’s hits were more timely. The Reds finished 6-for-12 with runners in scoring position, while the Phillies were 3-for-13.